Thread: Regrinding a razor

I have been searching the forum this morning and do not know why i'm having trouble grasping this.


What exactly is "regrinding"? What is the goal and what tools are used(belt sander, bench grinder?)


Is this done when a blade is unfinished or has too much pitting to simply sand/use compounds?

Thanks.

If i missed a link somewhere, please call me a noob and send me on my way

Regrinds - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

Turns a wedge into a 1/4 wedge or 1/2 wedge or hollow. Is my understanding. Could be wrong.

Regrinding is pretty much as it says. Take a razor that's already been ground, & re-grind it. It may be to remove chips, cracks or pits. It may be simply to give a wedge a more hollow grind. It may even, as a certain member favours, simply a quest to cover the spine of every razor they can in patterns & create a thumbnotch! AFAIK, belts & wheels are used. Have a look in the workshop. You'll see photo's of them being used if you get luckier with your searches.

here is an example of my very first attempt on a junk blade

I somewhat butchered it, but you can see a drastic improvement regardless

I'm not quite finished with this, but I did a Boker yesterday and it came out quite nicely

Good question. I'll answer your questions below. It is my personal opinion that people often use the term too loosely and give it a more literal translation (re (again) grind (basically sanding metal)). The term is used by knifemakers when talking about the actual grind (hollow or flat) of the blade. See below...

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

What exactly is "regrinding"? What is the goal and what tools are used(belt sander, bench grinder?)
In the knife world a regrind rarely includes anything more than using an abrasive belt on a machine to give a worn knife a new hollow grind or flat grind. The term (IMO) should have nothing to do with decorating a knife/razor or using sub-par tools like a dremel to acheive the end result. The best results are had by using 2"x72" belts on a high-quality machine. You can use smaller belts or lower quality machines, but the results are usually less than good (IMO).


Is this done when a blade is unfinished or has too much pitting to simply sand/use compounds?
I most often do it when there is lots of pitting, a huge bevel, tons of honewear, or just to make the razor/knife look like new. It can be done for whatever reasons you want really.

Here's a pic of me using a proper machine...

I wasn't going to mention removing honewear

actually I deleted it from my original post LOL

keep in mind that blade was trash when I started (before I started)

Good Stuff Alex. You got the edge down on the one in the pic??

I would add that regrinding a wedge or 1/4 hollow on a 2x72 is usually OK, but when you try it on a hollow ground blade, you are usually asking for trouble because there is not that much metal on them. You have to be very careful not to foil them or tear them up.

Lynn

Thanks alex. That is exactly what I was looking for.


So I"m guessing you probably see this more with wedges, than with hollows?

Originally Posted by Lynn

Good Stuff Alex. You got the edge down on the one in the pic??

I would add that regrinding a wedge or 1/4 hollow on a 2x72 is usually OK, but when you try it on a hollow ground blade, you are usually asking for trouble because there is not that much metal on them. You have to be very careful not to foil them or tear them up.

Lynn

Edge is ALWAYS up for me. Right about FULL hollows. I think that distinction should be made. Even most wedges have (technically) a HOLLOW grind to them. I think we often get tooooo technical in terms of labeling grinds, myself included! I'd add that it is rarely worth it (IMO again) to even bother trying to regrind a full hollow straight razor.

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

So I"m guessing you probably see this more with wedges, than with hollows?

See above!